How to Remove Yellow Armpit Stains

Let me start off by saying that I am rather embarrassed to show you this photo.
This is one of my all-time favorite shirts. It is 100% bamboo cotton and feels so amazing. It is light weight and breathable and works great for layering. One problem:

Yep, that's right. The dreaded yellow pit stain. I have an excessive sweat problem (no, really, I sweat ALL the time, even when I'm cold...) and, sadly, I have a LOT of white shirts that have suffered this fate. Most of them have been tossed in the trash or cut up for rags or projects. Some, (like my awesome flame-sleeve shirt from High School) were rather painful to part with. Others, like this amazingly comfy shirt, I just couldn't bring myself to get rid of. I have spent many times wearing shirts like this and trying to keep my arms at my sides, or wearing extra layers to hide the dreaded pit stain. This particular shirt has looked just like this for more than 4 years. So sad! :(

I came across a few things on Pinterest to try to get rid of deodorant stains (as that is what the yellow stain actually is), but they all did little to nothing. I tried straight bleach. I tried White-Brite. I tried Rit dye (yes, they sell white dye). I tried peroxide and baking soda. NOTHING worked.

Then I found a few blogs that suggested adding dish soap to the peroxide/soda mixture. I tried it. Didn't work. So lame! So my shirts sat in my closet, longing to be worn, along with a grease-stained dress shirt from Riker's side of the closet.

Now here's the kicker: I always use cheap dish soap. It cleans, I don't care. Lately, I have been buying Ajax just because. It is relatively cheaper, but I figured it would work better than the super cheap brand. Riker always gives me a hard time because it doesn't SAY that it fights grease on the bottle (this coming from the man who INSISTS on Bounty paper towel, Huggies diapers, and top quality toilet paper. And to be honest, don't tell him I said this, he has been right so far), so how well can it actually clean?

I found another Pinterest tip for another project that REQUIRED Dawn dish soap and no other brand. I thought that was stupid, but I picked some up anyway as Geordi had dumped 3/4 of my dish soap on the kitchen table and I needed more soap.

With my ultra-concentrated de-greasing Dawn in hand, I figured I would start experimenting with things to see if it was really all it was cracked up to be. I think I have been converted! I used 1/3 of the soap I normally use for dishes. That right there convinced me. Then, I figured, what the heck, I will give this peroxide/baking soda/dish soap thing a try again.

...Dude.

Wait, let me show you the original again, for reference.

This poor shirt has suffered needlessly for FOUR YEARS!! I am going to go crazy on my white shirts tomorrow! Plus, it even removed the grease stain that has been washed and dried multiple times and then sat in the back of my closet for over a year.

So, I know you want to try this too now. I guess I can share my secret with you :)

I mixed 2 T baking soda, 3 T hydrogen peroxide, and 1 tsp DAWN dish soap in a small bowl. I spooned it over the stain, scrubbed it like crazy with a scrub brush for about 2 minutes or so (didn't damage my soft shirt at all) and let it sit for about an hour. The blue shirt sat for 1 1/2 hours since I washed it in a separate load, but it didn't affect it at all. Then I laundered it normally.

As a side note: this mixture wound up being more than I needed for both shirts, so I would probably halve that for 1 or 2 items. I think tomorrow I will wind up using it all, if not more, but I have 5 or 6 shirts to treat.

Have fun rescuing your favorite white shirts!!

How to Remove Spray Paint From a Mirror

I got a great deal on a dresser/mirror set for Tasha several months ago (by great deal, I mean the neighbors were getting rid of it and let us take it for free) and figured the easiest way to update it and hide the stains/scratches/etc was to spray paint it (I tried gel stain first and it was a depressingly utter disaster). I know, I should have taken before and after pictures and I fully intended to take a before picture and kept forgetting as I started, head-first into each project (it's a curse, really).

Anyway, I got the dresser and nightstand all done and got lazy with the mirror. I didn't bother taping it at all. I just laid some paper over the mirror itself and figured that would do the trick....

Nope.

Here's what happened:

 The majority of the mirror looks like that (although the edges look even worse from the epic gel stain failure).


I tried to scrape the paint off with a razor blade, and, although it did the work on the gel stain (and took forever), the amount of spray paint and the size of the mirror made the razor essentially useless.

Luckily, Almighty Google came to my rescue and led me to Young & Crafty, where a similar case of laziness (though not as severe as mine) had led to a mishap as well. She recommended nail polish remover. I was skeptical, as was she, but after a LOT of scrubbing and a couple of ventilation breaks, the mirror looks brand new! Hooray!

And here is the finished product hanging up in Tasha's room. She loves it and I am so glad to have it finally done and put up (it sat in the back yard for nearly 2 months! eek!)

Miscellaneous Monday- Gratitude

It is November and FINALLY starting to feel like Autumn. As with most people, as November rolls around and the sugar high wears off from Halloween, my mind starts to wander towards Thanksgiving.

I feel that this holiday is terribly underrated, shoved between two highly commercialized popular holidays. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Christmas (and yes, I start wanting to decorate as soon as Halloween is over), but I think that most people are too quick to focus on getting costumes ready and presents purchased and don't stop to think about Thanksgiving apart from how big of a dinner to plan.
I, on the other hand, have come to love this month and the holiday associated. I have been through a lot over the past few years and it has made me incredibly grateful for what I have, no matter how small. And the best part? The more you are thankful for the small things, the more you start to notice significant things that you may have not realized were that wonderful.

In addition, I really feel that spending an entire month focusing so much on gratitude helps me prepare for Christmas even more and really zero in on what Christmas is about. So, to go along with what several of my friends do every year, I will be posting one thing every day that I am grateful for.

Day 1: Today I am grateful for good friends. I have been sick the past couple of days, only to have Riker and Geordi come down with something as well. This morning, Worf started feeling icky too. Just a quick hello from a friend turned into a full blown dinner to help take care of my family. It is amazing to have friends that are willing to help you out even when they are dealing with their own sick kiddos.

Miscellaneous Monday- I'm going crazy

I have had an absolutely CRAZY August and September and I am SO glad it is over. I have been dealing with a lot of court stuff regarding a custody dispute over Data and Worf. My ex husband tried to claim that I was mentally unstable and shouldn't see my kids anymore, despite the fact that they have lived with me since we got divorced. I had to go through a full-blown psychiatric evaluation (surprise surprise, I'm NOT crazy) and a custody evaluation to determine what would be in our children's best interest (another shocker: they should stay here). On top of that, Data broke his arm while on summer vacation with his father and wound up needing surgery to repair it once he got home.

You notice the nice bend in his forearm?? Yeah, that's NOT supposed to be there. That was after being set and casted for THREE WEEKS by the idiots that his father took him to... Not a happy Mama Bear >:( Then, we had our "normal" craziness of school starting and numerous birthday parites (4 birthdays in one month!!).

September didn't get any better with Riker working a ridiculous number of hours in order to pay for our attorney in the aforementioned court nastiness as well as the rest of our bills. Then, we decided it would be best for our family to move to another house (a whole mini-saga in itself). I am super excited about the new place and all of the promise it has, but it was a rough move. Just a mere week later, Riker's sister got married and wanted Yar to be the flower girl (which I had to make a dress for)

AND wanted me to make her cake (4 tiers of yummy, stress-filled goodness), so yeah... Oh, and then Worf got a bad ear infection the day before he was supposed to go to his father's and I had to deal with the headache that came with trying to convince the man that it wasn't really best for Worf to be going on vacation to 6000 feet from sea level with serious fluid built up in his ears... (common sense apparently isn't all that common)

Yeah... I think I'm doing pretty well to still have my wits about me at this point.

So, now I am taking the day off. I haven't done a single routine thing all day today, apart from heating up leftovers and giving Geordi a bath. I have been pretty laid back and read a book, played with playdough (fyi, real playdough is SO much more fun to play with than the cheapy stuff), and updated my blog. I probably should make something for dinner, but I have no desire to be productive. Especially sitting on my couch surrounded by boxes that need to be unpacked, a yard that needs cleaning and decorations that need to be put up. I really am excited about doing those things, just not today. It doesn't help that it is wonderfully overcast today and I have an even stronger desire to curl up with Riker, my fuzzy leopard blanket and a cup of cocoa and call it a day. Too bad it isn't cold enough for me to convince Riker to light up the fireplace...

Topic Headlines

Okay, here we go...

I am planning on trying to post on a daily basis, although with 4 kids, our busy schedules, and all of the court nonsense we are juggling, that may not always prove to be possible. We shall see how it goes. Thanks to Blogger putting out an app for my phone, it may be a little more reasonable, but who knows.

Since I have just a wide variety of things rolling around in my brain right now, and since this blog is an attempt to maintain my sanity, I figured that I would attempt to organize a few of those things into weekly topics. That way, I can spend some time on each thing that interests me without getting stuck in any one thing for too long. Good idea right? I sure hope so :)

So, my idea for topic headlines is as follows:

Monday- Miscellaneous Monday
As the name suggest, I can post about whatever I want without having to categorize it. That way, if I feel that I should spend more time on a topic this week, I have an extra day. Or if I feel like writing about something totally off topic, I can do that too.

Tuesday- Tasty Tuesday
I LOVE cooking, but don't always have a chance to do something fun every day (yes, my kids eat mac and cheese out of a box on occasion). This will be my chance post about all the fun and tasty things I have tried in the last week (or will try).

Wednesday-Weighty Wednesday
I am trying to get my health on track and need a weekly accountability day (weigh in, update, confession :O, etc). Also an opportunity to share things I have learned and struggle with.

Thursday-The Project (I tried to find a title that started with a T, but this was the best I could come up with)
A week-by-week project of loving an individual on purpose and with a plan (I will explain more on my first Project post)

Friday- Family Friday
I believe that my family is THE most important thing in my life, even if it is not the easiest. I want to be able to share what I have learned about building relationships within my family as I have an interesting family dynamic. Look forward to posts about spouses, ex-spouses, biological children, step children, siblings, parents, in-laws, all kinds of fun things!

Saturday-Scrappy Saturday
I love crafts (almost as much as cooking). I love working with my hands and having the satisfaction of creating something myself (part of the reason I love having babies). This is my day to post about any project I am working on from sewing, knitting and crochet, to scrapbooking and home improvement.

Sunday-Spiritual Sunday
I put Sunday as the last day because I want this day to be a relaxation from the rest of the week of craziness. This is the day I am most looking forward to. Watch for posts regarding my study and learning of the gospel and my testimony of my Savior and how it all fits into my everyday life.

Well, if any of you are reading (and I ever wind up keeping up with this schedule), I hope that you find a topic that interests you. I know that I am looking forward to next year when I can go back and read through my own posts and reminisce about what I've done this year.

So, on to posting!!